Chapter 14:

Chapter 14: Of Duties and the Longing for a home Little can be said that one does not already Feel.



The souls of man and elder are different, too different to ever be confused for the other.

The shape I believe most resonates with the soul of man is a gun, a boltgun in this reality to be more specific, for man had evolved and claimed as his birthright ranged combat and heavy mass and lumbering strides for their small frames.

A boltgun best describes man for as he learned to fight, he had learned to hit from further and further away as if possessed by their soul in order to find the shape that most resonates to that which they crave to posses and are. I have not seen other men in this reality, not living and whole ones at least, though I have seen fragments and read on them, but what little I have seen confirms it.

They also love leaving a mess where their shots hit.

We are boltguns made of scrap metal, shaped by evolution and refined by our craving to see our foes brought low from afar and crushed till bone and blood are indistinguishable between our boots. I have come upon this realization when I found out that that which my former people from this dimension consider basic infantry fit for only the most untrained conscripts are called Armigers and wished I could posses one and I would settle for an Armiger even as I craved its larger siblings.

All that is lesser than this are called colonial militias or drone technicians and specialists and still they posses great bulk and ranged weapons as default for there are very few men that would not take guns to shoot with when granted the honor.

Eldar are not guns, the handicraft of the Old Ones ensure that whatever we once were, we are now swords now and forever more and unlike man our souls and minds do not contradict. What the soul thinks so does the mind which is why it takes so long for many of us to tell the difference.

I am a gun-sword now, I prefer to kill my enemies from afar where they cannot see me from, but I can see the results of my handiwork or cut them down from close range as I shoot them and their fellows before they can do so to me.

Both appeal to me.

Others have their own souls but all eldar have soul swords and while this is limiting in some respects there's as many different types of swords as fools to wield them. Some cut to heal and some to destroy or create but they all cut.

All can see the outer shape of each other's soul and with age may learn to gleam secrets from what we see, but to see deeper without offense requires a bond of trust that not even parents can impose on their children. Apprentices and master do posses this bond for it is useful for master to know the tool that he works with and so I have seen the soul of my apprentice in all its scarred glory. His sword soul was made of ink and thanks to the blessing of Khaine he could turn it to murderous purpose.

The craft I was teach him is a mix of Eldar crafting and the gun logic of my old people and it was simple in its application and creation yet counter-intuitive to both Human and Eldar alike for it required both perspectives to make sense of it at first, or at least so I thought.

My craft however, is simple. Man would make implements that would shoot away from where they are, Eldar too could do so but while capable of such and more skilled in their making thanks to a fifty million years head start, their instincts was that of a sword unlike that of my old people's gun instincts, and a sword cuts but what it needs, while a gun shoots and destroys not only its target but all that it can see that would stop it from doing so until it has run out of ammo or things to kill or it broke.

I have decided to just mix the two soul logics and call it my craft. And so I would make rune guns that would create swords and other implements away from the runes but that had no true body of their own for they were ammo and ammo only needed as much mass as it needed to kill and my ammo needed none so it had none.

I have created rune guns that shoot bullets that act like tools and do so separated from that which sustains and creates them. Uninspired for sure but difficult for both Man and Eldar to normally understand and in all their history neither had created what I have made with the help of my siblings in thirty years.

My apprentice older than myself and my siblings combined offered a bond of deep trust he had not given his own parents, freely and unprompted at that, on the first minute after he had sworn his oaths of apprenticeship to me and my siblings in the hope that he would earn favor or perhaps his first apprenticeship would earn him a way to make his family proud. He had no more pride left in his soul.

Two hundred years of mockery and broken dreams and failure have stripped it away as if they were some ravenous beasts that sought to eat every scrap of flesh from bone and very nearly cracked the bone too before he came to us escorted by his own mother.

His family called him slow but hard working for they still loved their fool and saw his struggles, his own mother begged us to extend his apprenticeship for while he lacks talent he will surely pick a craft from the talented young masters of it if he is given the time to do so. All that met him and knew of him and his family mocked him, for they believed he couldn't even do that.

He believed himself both lazy and untalented for he learned little to nothing from his teachers or his centuries of work.

Before we started teaching him we believed this to be the plan of Gua Bis to keep us on her world for longer and give herself enough time to put me so deep into her debt that I had to take the hand of one of her children or nephews in marriage to pull myself out of it. She very nearly did so in an hour and a half of talking and a meal and I'm scared to speak for longer periods of time with her lest she succeeds the next time.

My siblings and I needed a single lesson to reconsider his apprenticeship because we believed his family had lied to us and the situation was far worse than we expected to have to face.

The fool was talented, too talented and hard working and made my siblings and I face an existential crisis after yesterday.

This piece of trash dared call himself a talentless layabout? What nonsense is this? He must repent for the insult he had given us and his family who believed in him!

He made more progress in five days than we thought even theoretically possible and while I and my siblings initially wanted to perhaps teach him two of my soul tools to make and use of and the knowledge to learn more in service of his lovely world and his Great Aunt and Uncle which have earned our friendship for their help and kindness.

This moron would run us dry of the knowledge of the art we have spent more than 30 years creating and afterwards be teaching us in a year. This is not what his parents, family and world sang to us would happen and we were fools for believing it!

I call nonsense, Divine Nonsense at that! For what world and teachers would fail a talent this monumental that he would surpass his masters who had crafted a new art and lesser tongue and had spent most of their lives perfecting it and do so in a year or even less.

I meant every word I said when I told him the best thing his teachers can do for him with their mouths is not speak but suck his cock for all eternity. They are not good to do anything else, for they failed to nurture such a talent and dare call themselves teachers and mock him that their own incompetence failed to teach him much.

I hoped Lestean Bairu understood my message to him and his family that my foolish apprentice had wronged both myself and his family. And that he understood that his teachers had wronged ourselves, the fool in question and his family, for the mockery their incompetence had earned us yesterday was great.

Or it is that he had replayed our conversation to his family as they questioned him. Judging by the subdued tone my moronic apprentice took in his lesson with my youngest sibling he did, for the silence of his mouth did not come only from our punishment but that of his family as well.

"Have we wasted our lives for this fool to call himself lazy and a layabout?" My siblings sang.

They felt what I felt but I could not let them see that.

"No for he is a fool and does not know what he does not know." I replied chagrined.

"Then how it is that it feels so? It took as 30 years to develop the craft you have created and he will be teaching us in a year."

"He is a fool, a talented fool who has learned to work harder than any other, for his world mocked him, because his teachers were incompetent and too good at hiding it."

I said so and I believed so even if I did not fully believe all of it myself. Talent and work go hand in hand for those that posses the two, but of them hard work is more important, as talent merely multiplies the result of hard work.

"Talent multiplies the result of hard work and while for us it multiplied by three and we have worked harder than most, the moron had learned to work hard in mastering something his talent divided by twenty and now works under masters that see this and work him hard in an art his talent multiplies by ten. That is all and it is humbling but we have not wasted our lives for our hard work and talent has carried us far and it will continue to do so if we continue working hard."

They nodded and I thanked the gods or whoever listened that they bought it. I'm not sure I did but will continue to work hard. In front of such dedication and loyalty what else you could do lest you failed those who look up to you.

If he dared call himself a lazy layabout and us incarnations of sloth who had never worked a day in our lives again as comparison my punishment will not be light again though. My soul can only take so much punishment, even with Khaine's second blessing that made soul wounds heal faster. I cannot defend my soul well only heal that which it had suffered and grow stronger from it and I could still feel the scar the moron put upon it.

We continued our study as my soul slowly healed from its own self-multilation, wounds that should take decades to recover from the cuts and flames of Khaine would heal in at most two years.

Scarn Laddon made himself welcome while we did so, our sword welcoming him for he was a friend that would help it protects its creators.

We sang to him to greet us in our rooms as we placed crystals and books and strings neatly away. It would not do to disrespect a friend, not when we are welcomed in their home and they in our house and they had offered to introduce us to our distant family of our brother turned sister.

The man with silver hair and green eyes and husband of woman with green hair and eyes that changed colors daily entered our sanctum and was welcome for it. Scarn Laddon was a good man that loved his family and his friends if not as much as he loved his family.

"Be welcome friend and sit in the bed with us, we had just finished exercising our craft." I said to the man politely.

The bed was so large that five people would have plenty of room to sit on it in a circle and talk and it had room for seven more.

"I'm glad to hear it and thank you for your invite."

"No invite is needed you know that now, for we are friends and our friends are always welcome in our home or house." The older triplet said and I nodded as the much older man sat down on our bed.

"Thank you and I would like to apologize on behalf of our nephew both I and my wife and his family."

We sighed as one, the boy just continues to make us more and more tired.

"Has he told you why?" Marsa asked.

"No, neither has his family for they told me I have to speak with you to believe it, for they are unsure if they should believe it and the song he recited back to them even as they punished him in accordance to what it said, but I do not know how."

About what we expected. The man looked pained that his own nephew had started bungling his apprenticeship in the first week and had come hoping to make amends.

"My apprentice called himself a lazy layabout without talent and so called his four masters Incarnations of sloth for whom talent is a distant dream and that have not worked a day in-between our four lives. We were quite insulted by it and believed his family as well for they love him and we all believe in him." I replied blandly.

The man looked with shock at my words as I started speaking them but as I spoke more, shock was replaced by joy and once I finished he started to laugh.

We did not see what was so funny, it was the truth.

"You speak truly? Then I am cross myself with the boy and joyful for he has found a craft that suits him and masters that care for him." He spoke among laughs and songs of joy.

We all nodded at this. Again it was the truth, only that he spoke of it this time and not us.

"We need to decide for a punishment for his teachers, for they have given us a moron that needs more pride beaten into his soul which I did not believe it was possible to ever speak about when speaking of an Eldar." Aesan spoke.

Aesan's words were truth, that someone would turn someone of such monumental talent and capacity for hard work that surpassed ours was an insult for they sent us a broken thing as our apprentice and it was our job to fix it.

"Then I would assume your apprenticeship to him will be shorter than expected?" He asked mournfully.

"No, we initially wanted to teach him how to do the Murder Dream Charm and one other, as well as leave him tools and knowledge to develop his own but the moron will suck us dry of all we know in a year and be teaching us afterwards." Marsa replied.

The man laughed again at our annoyed song.

"Then I am happy, happy for my nephew, for he had found both a craft that spoke to him and masters to learn from once again and I agree with you that we have been wronged. I will speak with my wife and our brothers and sisters, to our and aunts and uncles and to our cousins and nephews and then to their families for they have wronged us and you deeply."

His tone was jovial and serious for now he knew his family had a great talent in its bosom and those that were meant to nurture it have scarred it.

"Do not punish the moron more, his family had told him how much of a fool he is and have already done so and he does not deserve more, for his failure in this regard was born from his teachers." Aesan spoke and pilled more punishment on the heads of those who had wronged us.

'We need to find what portents of doom we will abate by doing what you said now brother.' I sang to my siblings.

Aesan rarely speaks with his voice these days even as his song graces the soul of all who could hear it.

We realized that he hears the warnings of his future self as he tries to help us avoid misfortune but his warning are not open with teaching us what we require to defend ourselves from and the younger self has decided to only speak these warnings with his tongue so that we would not mistake them for anything else.

It is half of why we have decided to open our hearts to Gua Bis and Scarn Laddon despite only meeting them for a day when we had done so. The other half was because we had fallen in love with their home and its song and echoes of love once we had stopped shivering in fear and listened to it.

If we were born in that house or married into it after being born on this world we would not have left it but gave our souls and our knowledge into its fortification and even still it hurt that we had to leave.

We were born alone or less than so. I only have slightly less than three years to remember the father who had took me in for and what I remember spoke of his character and of the fact he cared and wished us best. What he left us and what those that had his position before did as well told us they cared for us too even if they had not met us.

My siblings only had months of memory of such but they still loved him.

The woman and warrior and mother Gua Bis and her husband and father of her children Scarn Laddon showered us with a parents love and it took all we had and the result of the warnings given to us by Aesan's future self to not settle here and take on her and her husbands offer of motherhood and fatherhood.

We couldn't, for this was not our home to defend for we had none even if we now knew we had a soul that was willing to love us as her own children and make her home our home with song and dance and kisses.

It hurt but it had to be done. We will not ask them to come with us for it would bring shame upon us to ask the woman who all but gave her heart to us to abandon her home, for we wouldn't if we were offered, but we will leave gifts when we leave to perhaps give them or more likely their families a slightly greater chance at running.

We wouldn't have used them to do so if doom came for our home while it was still standing but fought to the bitter end, on this both gun-sword and swords agreed, but gifts will be thought of, made and freely given for those that have earned it.

Once we will have found a safe place to call home we weren't moving until both us and our home were dust.

My siblings sang in agreement.

' Something will have to die when it was not looking and it will not know it died until after the fact. We just have to find out what and shoot and stab it many times till it dies.' They sang as one.

I sang my confirmation, so has it been sang and so it shall be done.

"I will not do so and will try to convince my wife of the same, for she was cross when she heard of it but too tired from her duties to do much more than sleep. His family has already convinced all others of this until they hear confirmation of this from us for if my nephew would have erred too drastically it would be my wife's work that would be mocked for it."

We nodded at that and that was that.

"I do actually have something more to talk with you, something important." Our friend said seriously.

His voice had no more of its mirth and joy and instead was as stalwart as a sword but nowhere near as sharp.

Something important but not dangerous then.

"Do speak of it friend, for it would not do to leave important things untold." I welcomed cautiously.

"During my wife's toils as she punished those who scarred my lord princes' honor and desecrated the garden of his Princess-wife, my wife had gained the honor and privilege of hosting a man among men and his own wife. For he is a man among men who had in a days work earned many favors and that now has a son born of his wife with the same issues as our youngest and a new son he has adopted to look after and all four of them are ours to host until they can build themselves a home. We were hoping you could hear him out as he offers his favors and make him a sword as you have made for us."

We looked at each other and considered. We had not planned to ply the one fifth of our trade we were teaching our apprentice so soon, but the man did seem important and if he was hosted and respected by our friends and our family then he deserved it.

"We will go and meet with the man and hear his offer. Even if he does not impress we will still paint him a sword as we have done for you, as well as see if we cannot make improvements at that which we have already given to you and no favors need be exchanged for either of this for you are friends and they your honored guests as we were before we became friends."

My offer was simple and generous for we too were as the man in question and were received in an open home full of love, it would not do to deny it to others or be petty about it.

Favors are just favors, friendship cares not for them.

Our friend bowed with tears in his eyes.

"Thank you my friends, I promise you he will impress."

We nodded, that remained to be seen.

We left and went to our friends' home and we passed through bustling theaters and concerts and arenas until we reached the home of our friend.

We entered through the silver door and went to the meditation room the man in question used to relax and rest as his hosts slept or were away and as his wife looked after his sons. He was tired and needed a few hours of rest.

"Friends may I present you Ulthuan the Unlucky, father of Eldrad of Ulthuan who is a boy who should be nameless but isn't for his father has foreseen his name spoken in song and thunder."

The man dropped his meditation and rose. His body, was unimpressive, his face plain and his short hair as black as his eyes and his garments little more than rags but his face shined in joy as he greeted us in voice and song and bowed deeply.

"Greetings young masters, I thank you for agreeing to hear my proposal and I'm sorry I could not do so dressed more adequately for both my wife and I are too tired to work today and I have sworn to only wear what she has crafted for me or that which our children have done so, for it is rude to refuse clothes given and crafted by ones' children." He greeted us warmly.

We beheld his song and the toil that made him a man among men and held it as true as we knelt and bowed in respect for he was a man among men and deserved it and our favor.

"We greet the man among men as true and promise our assistance."

"Young Masters, please this is unnecessary, I am willing to pay in favors and friendship." He cried honestly as we bowed.

The toil of saving two hundred and four souls from burning wombs in one day as he, they and their mothers burned as he did so, as well as the birthright of twins and triplets to be blessed by two divines in the same day and by three divines in total said deed had earned him sang otherwise.

He was a fool and he has earned the right to be so and more. We will do the work for free, for he has done to children that would be abandoned to die what we hoped others would have done for us.